High Five: Wings’ Winning Ways Continue in Week 2
No Raymond? No Kane? No problem for the red hot Red Wings amidst a five-game winning streak.
The Detroit Red Wings are red hot to start the season, winning all three games since we last checked in and riding a five-game winning streak into this week, taking the sting out of their 5-1 opening night loss to Montreal. Detroit is now 5-1 on the season, picking up 10 of 12 points in the standings in a schedule that featured all 2025 playoff teams so far, including last year’s Stanley Cup Finalists. The Red Wings swept their Florida foes, topping the Panthers 4-1 and the Lightning 2-1 in overtime before defeating Edmonton 4-2.
Dylan Larkin was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week after netting two goals and two assists against Edmonton, scoring the overtime winner against Tampa Bay, and posting eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in three games. John Gibson picked up his first two wins as a Red Wing while Emmitt Finnie and Axel Sandin Pellikka both scored their first career NHL goals. As before, the quick blurb game-by-game breakdowns are at the end, here is what stood out this past week.
The Two Headed Monster in Goal We’ve Waited For: Ever since Steve Yzerman arrived as team GM, he has aggressively looked for solutions in goal. He acquired Alex Nedeljkovic from Carolina in 2021, then tried to pair him with Ville Husso in 2022, but that tandem never materialized. He then added Alex Lyon and James Reimer, which featured mixed results in 2023 before Lyon paired with Cam Talbot last year with more uneven results. Things got off to a rough start for newcomer John Gibson, who allowed five goals on 13 shots in his Detroit debut on opening night, but Gibson stopped 47 of 50 shots (.940 save%) in a pair of wins last week and Talbot is a perfect 3-0 with a 1.78 goals against average and .932 save% after being a roughly league average netminder a year ago. It is super early and both Talbot and Gibson have had subpar seasons not that long ago, but you can see the makings of the stable tandem the Red Wings have been looking for since Jimmy Howard began declining. Talbot stole Monday’s win against Toronto and Gibson is why Detroit got two points from Tampa Bay on Friday.
Larkin Leading: With 11 points in the first six games, Dylan Larkin has set the tone and sits third in the NHL in scoring over the early going. His big week happened with a new look line as Mason Appleton moved up to replace the injured Lucas Raymond, who returned Sunday against Edmonton and promptly dished out two assists. Producing as the leader on a line with a rookie 7th-round pick and a typical bottom six free agent signing is impressive and he warrants praise for stepping up against quality teams with his line missing a key ingredient. As Larkin goes, so do the Red Wings, so it’s no surprise that Detroit has thrived during their captain’s heater. The points won’t always pile up like this, but it’s looking great right now for Larkin and company.
Not Finni(e)shed Yet: Emmitt Finnie’s storybook season is taking hold in the early going. The 2023 seventh round pick netted his first two NHL goals in Sunday’s win over the Edmonton Oilers and he logged a season-high 19:25 on the ice in a game devoid of special teams. Him netting his second goal on an empty netter is more impressive than the feat sounds as it means he was trusted to be on the ice nursing a one-goal lead against the powerhouse lineup of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and finished the key play to secure the team’s fifth-straight win. We must expect some amount of a rookie wall to hit, but right now we can enjoy this surge while it lasts. Even if he falls off due to the rigors of the NHL season, Finnie is clearly establishing himself as an NHL regular, something that is atypical of seventh round picks in general, especially ones two years removed from their draft year.
Random Notes
Since Gibson was pulled on opening night, Detroit goaltenders have stopped 129 of 138 shots (.934 save%).
The Red Wings have killed off all 10 opposing power plays during their five-game winning streak (70.11 penalty kill in 2024-25 season).
Rookies Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard are tied for the team lead with 21 hits apiece.
Since teaming up on the third pairing, Albert Johansson and Jacob Bernard-Docker are a combined +10 in five games and both have Corsi rating above 55% (Bernard-Docker: 56%; Johansson: 55.1%).
What Happened
Game 4: Detroit 4, Florida 1
The Red Wings took on the battered two-time defending champion Panthers and held their own in a scoreless first period that saw both teams fire nine shots on goal. Detroit came alive in the second frame, however, as Monday’s hero Mason Appleton put the Wings in front 1-0 just 2:09 in the period with Dylan Larkin drawing the lone assist. Patrick Kane’s power play goal (from Moritz Seider and Larkin) at the 9:36 mark extended the lead to 2-0, though Brad Marchand got the Panthers on the board with 5:55 left in the period to make it a one-goal lead. Detroit outshot Florida 11-5 in the middle stanza and withstood a bit of a push by the Panthers in the third thanks to another solid outing by Cam Talbot (20 saves) keeping Florida from evening it up. Appleton and Michael Rasmussen salted the game away with a pair of empty net goals in the closing minutes. Detroit helped Talbot out defensively, killing off all three Florida power plays and blocking 21 Panther shots.
Stat Breakdown
Shots on Goal: 25-21 Detroit
Power Plays: Detroit 1/3 (33.3%); Florida 0/2 (0%)
5-on-5 Corsi For: 47-44 Florida (51.6%)
5-on-5 Corsi (Close): 32-29 Detroit (52.5%)
5-on-5 Offensive Zone Starts: 51.4% Florida
Game 5: Detroit 2, Tampa Bay 1 (OT)
John Gibson starred in this one in his first outing since being pulled on opening night after allowing five goals on 13 shots. Still playing without Lucas Raymond, the Red Wings got on the board with 6:58 remaining in the first when Axel Sandin Pellikka blasted a shot through traffic for his first NHL goal and point. Larkin and Appleton earned helpers and that goal stood as the lone tally for most of the game. Detroit outshot Tampa Bay 22-11 in the first two periods, but the Lightning came on strong in the third by firing 19 shots Gibson’s (30 saves) way. Tampa ended the shutout bid with 3:43 left in regulation on a JJ Moser tally, forcing overtime. In the extra session, Larkin got sprung on a breakaway by JT Compher and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to secure the extra point for Detroit and a fourth-straight Red Wing victory.
Stat Breakdown
Shots on Goal: 32-31 Tampa Bay
Power Plays: Detroit 0/3 (0%); Tampa Bay 0/3 (0%)
5-on-5 Corsi For: 60-49 Tampa Bay (55%)
5-on-5 Corsi (Close): 40-24 Detroit (62.5%)
5-on-5 Offensive Zone Starts: 60% Tampa Bay
Game 6: Detroit 4, Edmonton 2
This was a similar effort to the Florida win a few nights prior, only this against the Panthers’ victim the past two Stanley Cup Finals captained by the best player on the planet, Connor McDavid. The Red Wings outshot the Oilers, 7-3, in the first period as they welcomed Lucas Raymond back to the lineup (though Patrick Kane was missing due to injury). Still, the game was scoreless until Dylan Larkin one-timed a Ben Chiarot feed 8:51 into the second, with Raymond also drawing an assist. Emmitt Finnie scored his first career NHL goal 3:03 later by firing in a rebound off a Jacob Bernard-Docker point shot, with Larkin assisting on the play as well. After the Oilers cut the cap to 2-1 less than a minute later, Larkin’s seeing eye shot from the wall gave him his second of the day with 2:55 left in the frame. Leon Draisaitl pulled Edmonton within a goal with 12:27 left, but Gibson (16 saves) would not allow them any closer as Finnie iced the game on an empty netter with 1:22 remaining. Detroit held Edmonton to only 18 shots and outshot the Oilers in every period for their fifth-straight victory. Penalties did not play a role in this as only one power play was awarded total, which was killed off by Detroit.
Stat Breakdown
Shots on Goal: 25-18 Detroit
Power Plays: Detroit 0/0 (N/A); Edmonton 0/1 (0%)
5-on-5 Corsi For: 60-38 Detroit (61.2%)
5-on-5 Corsi (Close): 42-20 Detroit (67.7%)
5-on-5 Offensive Zone Starts: 51.5% Detroit
What else is standing out to you amidst the Red Wings’ hot start to the season? Let me know in the comments!